Freak
by Swooping Evil
Summary: The arrival of Lily's acceptance letter to Hogwarts


Hope you like it :)

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"I'm so proud of you sweetheart!" exclaimed Mrs Evans, rushing over to Lily who was waving the yellowed letter in the air as if reminding Petunia that she had never got one.

Hogwarts. The word spun around in her head, again and again repeating, coming back to plague her thoughts. A witch. Her sister was a witch: she would get a wand, she would go to an incredible school, and she would learn to use magic while Petunia would stay at her normal school, with normal people and _no_ wand and _no_ magic. Tears filled Petunia's eyes and yet she refused to let them spill. Her head was in turmoil, the room was spinning and Lily was still standing in the middle of the room, taking up all the space physically as well as not, like she always did.

Feeling as though she would no longer be able to retain her tears, Petunia ran up the stairs, two at a time, and went into her bedroom. Glad that she did not share the room with Lily, she allowed the tears to spill over freely down her face. She let them cascade down her cheeks and her feelings jumped from the deepest sadness to the fiercest jealousy then to anger before going back round in a circle again: sadness, jealousy, anger, sadness, jealousy, anger… As her tears dried up, not because she felt better but because she did not have any more tears to shed, Petunia washed her face to hide any traces of having cried and sat down at her desk, pen in hand and blank paper waiting to be written on.

It was a while before she finished writing as it took her some time to find the right words. However, after reading over her letter for the third time, Petunia allowed herself a small smile, satisfied with her work. Jumping out of her chair and checking her appearance in the mirror, Petunia ran down the stairs and out of the house without a word. Her parents did not call her back, which confirmed her theory that Lily was most probably outside as well.

She ran down the street and headed straight for the local playground where Lily and that boy usually met up in. Knowing full well that the Snape boy would be with her sister, Petunia still tried very hard to push the thought to the back of her mind; she found him cold, mean and a very bad influence over her sister. However, she believed him now: she knew he must be a wizard as well and this thought only made her all the more jealous. Grasping the letter in her hand she tried to think of the possibilities that lay ahead of her if Dumbledore accepted her request.

Grasping the letter in her hand she tried to think of the possibilities that lay ahead of her if Dumbledore accepted her request.

"Tunie what are you doing here?" asked Lily who was swinging upside down on the monkey bars.

"I-I-I wanted to congratulate you," said Petunia who, even though was jealous of not being able to go to Hogwarts, was still pleased for her sister whom she used to get on well with before the other boy came along.

Lily slipped elegantly off the monkey bars and smiled, however, Petunia noticed, in a sad sort of way. Taking a deep breath in and sticking her chin out Petunia powered on, "I also wanted to tell you that I have a letter for the Professor who came and I wanted to ask you whether you would send it for me with the o-owl you're going to get."

Lily opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted by a sneering, drawling voice. The Snape boy had just arrived and, unlike Lily who beamed, Petunia scowled one of her foulest scowls. "You're a muggle," he stated, smirking.

"Yes I-I am," answered Petunia defiantly. She would not be upset by a small, ugly and cruel boy. She would not lose her temper with her sister watching her. She would not!

"You shouldn't send letters to the magical world," he continued, an evil gleam in his eyes. Petunia noticed that Lily was starting to look increasingly worried, however; the worry she saw in her sister's eyes only increased the anger that Petunia was trying to keep at bay.

"I will if I have to. I have a question that needs answering," replied Petunia whose voice was shaking slightly.

The horrid boy smirked clearly enjoying her suppressed fury.

"You shouldn't. You-don't-belong-in-our-world!" said Severus, pronouncing each syllable individually and forcefully. Petunia felt her face burn but she could not lose her temper so instead, she clenched her fists, her nails digging into the palms of her hands which had now started to bleed.

"I have every right to send a letter!" shouted Petunia, shaking so violently she clasped her hands in one another to stop them from moving too much. Then, she looked at her sister, her Lily, the one who was special, the one who was loved for her abilities and the one who would be going to a school to learn how to use magic. Noticing that Lily made no move to stop Severus, no move to protect and defend her, Petunia felt her anger reach a peaking point.

Lily opened her mouth however, Petunia interrupted her, "I have every right to send a letter!" she repeated, "Every right! Lily I am leaving, are you coming?" she asked but Lily did not move and now Petunia's tears started to spill over, "Fine! Fine then! I don't want to be involved with you anyway, you're… you're just freaks! Freaks, both of you! I shouldn't stay in your company or else you might contaminate me!" and with that Petunia turned around wiping away her tears viciously.

"You don't mean that, do you Petunia?" asked Lily timidly, tears also present on the sides of her dazzling emerald green eyes.

Petunia spun around, hair flying wildly and face contorted in such a rage she looked almost like a rabid animal, "Yes I do Lily. I _do_! Go to your freak school for all I care," without waiting for a reply Petunia left the playground with Lily calling her name and the Snape boy laughing at her retreating back.

Her parents may find Lily more interesting, Lily might be more special than her however, Petunia was not going to let that ruin her life. Wiping away the fresh tears which had rolled down her wet cheeks, Petunia made a resolute decision which she would stand by for the next years of her life: she was going to leave Cokeworth and make her parents proud of her, something which she had never been able to achieve so far.

* * *

I know the Dursley's weren't particularly nice to Harry but I still feel really bad for Petunia. I mean imagine your sister or your brother gets a letter to go to Hogwarts and you find out that you can't go. Your sibling's friend bullies you and continues to rub in the fact that you will never be magic and you will never be able to be as special as your sibling. Then you're meant to look after that sibling's baby who is a constant reminder of the magic you will never have. I think it's sad and I think we need to give her a little credit for keeping Harry for all that time. Dumbledore may have told them that they had to keep Harry but Petunia didn't leave, didn't run away and still looked after Harry even though it wasn't in the nicest way.


End file.
